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Forum:Will Gordon Brown be remembered for fiddling with community involvement while the planet burns?
The announcement about participatory budgeting Local people to have greater say on spending, July 5 - Communities and Local Government, News Release 2007/0124, 5 July 2007 BBC News, July 5 The Guardian, Voters to get direct say on local spending, July 5 was a very good start. But communities need to be involved also in discussions about values and the kinds of futures we want. Futures which take account of climate change and very different pictures of where we'll be getting our energy from. Discussion about all aspects of more sustainable communities. The challenge for government is to find a way to take the 'we-think' We-think project initiated by Charles Leadbeater phenomenon seriously. The challenge for the rest of us is to persuade government, at all levels, to stop toying with those of us who would be involved. Throwing public money at the latest fashion accessory of a scheme or program, has got to be replaced by a more open, inclusive, transparent and long term approach. More government with the people than government over the people. *Open means letting the public in at the design stage of any program or initiative, including the 'how will we judge success' bit. *Inclusive of course means going beyond the government's favoured few. *Transparent means enabling the wisdom of crowds to counteract control freakery from wherever it might come *Long term means continuous dialogue. Of course there may be a lot more to it than this, but getting these 4 things would show substance supplanting spin. Philralph 16:01, 12 August 2007 (UTC) Extra comments *posted to Involve, Philralph 13:55, 18 September 2007 (UTC) Comment in response to first posting: I agree with the need for some version of face to face stuff. But it really isn't a case of one or the other but how to do both so that they are actually mutually reinforcing. Comment in response to second posting: It may be just me, but I can't help feeling that there's a tension between openness, wholism, inclusivity and constant lauding the likes of "very high level" and "leaders". Comment in response to third posting: The sooner we make a proper job of envisioning a sustainable future for the world of (paid) work, the sooner everything else, including sense of community will fall into place. *Comment posted to Cabinet Office Have Your Say (Effective Consultation) , Philralph 15:39, 25 September 2007 (UTC) As the Phillis report (January 2004) said, we need continuous dialogue. Consultation is not this. Genuine community involvement if done properly could become it. The more open, transparent and inclusive any such dialogue is, the more likely it will nuture the necessary trust, and repair any damage limited and cynical consultations continue to store up. This comment was first published on the Sustainable Community Action wiki. Citizens' Juries The thing about Citizens' juries is that there is no convincing argument why whatever happens in them can't be done more openly so that more people are afforded the opportunity to be involved. Related Wikipedia content *Citizens' jury Related topics References Category:Community involvement forum